Scouting the Doubles – Swansea

With their top-flight safety long-assured and the Capital One Cup also in the bag, Swansea continue to limp over the finishing line after a superb first few months under the guidance of Michael Laudrup. Double Gameweek 36 hands the Welsh outfit a tricky home clash against City this Saturday but with a trip to struggling Wigan the following Tuesday, Fantasy managers will be optimistic over the Swans potential:

The Prospects

Since their 5-0 Wembley win over Bradford in last February, Swansea have toiled in the league. While the game directly after their Capital One cup triumph harvested a narrow home victory over Newcastle, they have since embarked on a run of form which has produced just four goals in the last six matches. At the back, they’ve been equally unimpressive – with two goals conceded in five of those fixtures, they’ve hardly made a persuasive case for inclusion in our double Gameweek plans. Indeed, factor in a Gameweek 37 trip to Old Trafford and some will be thinking twice over their acquisition.

Although the home game against City is the least appealing of the two fixtures, Roberto Mancini’s side have, perhaps surprisingly, scored more than a single goal just once in their last six away matches – ironically against United in Gameweek 32. City have just one clean sheet in their last five away trips, offering hope for the Swans attacking assets. A visit to Wigan, with Roberto Martinez’s side fighting for their survival, could pose problems, though – the Latics have dropped just two points from their last three at the DW, courtesy of Emmerson Boyce’s last-minute own goal against Spurs on Saturday.

The Likely Lads

Given the Swans’ lack of resilience at the back in recent matches, confidence in their ability to produce clean sheets is likely to be limited. With a couple of goals to his name so far, Angel Rangel has found the net more often than any defensive team mate and has also provided an assist this term. Coming in at 4.7 in Fantasy Premier League (FPL), he’s a little more expensive than fellow full-back Ben Davies (4.4) but the latter’s game time could be under threat from Neil Taylor, who returned to action as a second-half sub last weekend after a long-term ankle injury.

With five goals and seven assists racked up already, Jonathan de Guzman comes into consideration for the double. The Dutchman has a fair share of set-pieces and was also confirmed as the club’s first-choice spot-kick taker by Laudrup after Nathan Dyer’s Wembley strop – typically fielded in “the hole” behind Michu when the Spaniard leads the line, de Guzman comes in at just 5.7 in FPL and could appeal as a differential, with an ownership under the 5% mark.

Sitting in over 45% of FPL teams, Michu remains the most popular player in the game. Having scored in just three of his 13 appearances since the turn of the year, there’s no question he has lacked in consistency over the last few months – with 17 goals so far, though, he has scored more than three times any other Swansea player (de Guzman and Wayne Routledge are next best with five apiece) and is the man most likely to produce for Laudrup’s side over the double.

Cheeky Punt

While Wayne Routledge and Nathan Dyer alternate for starts, Pablo Hernandez offers a security of game time under Laudrup. The Spaniard has been fielded in the first XI in all but one of the last 15 league matches and, like Michu, has already found the net against Wigan earlier in the season. Hernandez has notched three times this term and with six assists also accrued, his creativity has been key to the Welsh club’s output.